The Grenada gazette. (Grenada, Miss.) 1885-18??, 1887-01-08

such constant Earring. The crisis camn
one evening. when a battle ensneJ in
which we were defeated. Robbie wa.
compelled to obey, while l, WHO had
oeen sent 70 my room, listened to his
passionate screams with a heart nearly
bursting with indignation. | sat nlan.
ming until late, and the sum total Of
my conclusions was that / wonlJ rnn
away and take Robbie with me, where
ne would be out Of the reach of such
tyranny.
$40 go back to grandmamma's would
40 no good; for she was a peaceable old
lady. who had a horror of ouarrels.
and that, besides, did not suit the spirit
OF my adventure. At last a happy
thought struck me. My own mother
had an aunt living in the country.
about twenty miles away, who had
written to me, the previous summer.
inviting me to visit her. She was a
maiden lady by the name of Delilab
Somerset, and though said to be rather
eccentric, would, no doubt, give us a
welcome, especially when l should in
form her of our unhappy relations at
home. Consulting her letter, which I
had kept, l found in it all necessary in
formation in regard to the Journey, a
part of which was to be made by STAGE.
fairly Rugged myself when l rcmem-
bered that papa's generosity on his re-
cent home visit had left me plenty of
pocket money; and my dreams, that
night, were visited by visions of farm
house kitchens after the style Wash
ington Irving loved to describe among
the old Dutch settlers, while amothcrly
old lady kept saying: Bless you, my
children as she heaped our laps with
nuts and apples.
''The next morning, making a pre-
tense of taking Robbie out to walk, |
concealed a small travelling bag under
my shawl; and so we set out on our
journey. | was in a fever of excite
ment, and my cheeks burned like fire;
but no one noticed my confusion, and
in a short time Robbie and | were
whizzing away on the morning train.
AT the first stopping place we had to
exchange the cozy, comfortable car for
the Inconvenience of a time-worn
stage, without springs, which was wait
ing at the station, and which for the
next six miles, jolted us over the
toughest and widest of country roads.
1.-THE town of Westbrooke, Connecti-
cut, in which Aunt Delilah resided,
was a tlourishing little seaport; but
that lady, | was informed, lived about
six miles from the town proper, in q
locality known as Horse Hill | was
not very favorably impressed with the
country; for after the first two miles of
travel, we seemed to leave civilization
behind us. We saw nothing but bleak
fields, lonely woods. and now and then
a solitary farmhouse. The fields were
covered with broad patches of rock, be-
tween the creviccs of which grew a
wilderness of bayberry bushes, whose
thick, stubby growth gave the country
a look of Undesirable melancholy.
As we went onward the signs of human
life and settlement grew less and less
frequent. and finally, unable any longer
to endure the terrible sense of loncli-
ness which was creeping over me, |
ventured to ask the driver if he was
sure that we were on the right road?
"'Well,' he responded-he was a
lank, sharp-featured old man-with a
good-naturel chuckle, I've run this
stage nigh onto fifteen year, and I've
never been off the right track yit, not
| knowed it.. Seems kinder lonesome
to you, I guess. Going to stay long in
these parts?' he added, looking at me
curiously.
"I-don't know I answered faint
ly. A sickening feeling of homesick-
ness was settling owe me. and my one
comforting thought was that Aunt De-
might possibly fail to take the
same view of the ease that | had, and
would send US directly home. l was
trying to rally my courage when
the stage stopped in the dreariest place
Imaginable. At first glance | saw no
but the old man directed me to
take a lane at my left and l would soon
come to it. The building was partly
Jul VI SipHt oNSI Viz plpN VI MI, VIC
roof only being visible from the street.
He kindly took down the bars which
barricaded the entrance to the lane;
md, thanking him for his trouble, !
took Robbie by the hand and walked
over the hill.
"Well, pretty soon we reached the
house. 1t was q story and a half farm
house. from which the paint had de-
leaving it a whitish brown,
standing behind Il ghostly ROY of tall
poplars. which have never since failed
20 send n shuddcr through mt wherever
| have seen them. Weary and heart
sick, l approached the door, and rails
.ng the old brass knocker senta hollow
through the house. Receiving
no answer, | repeated it again and
again, but always with the same result.
At last | tried the door, only TO find 1t
securely fastened. Investigation showed
hat every curtain was down and every
loor locked. My dears, l can never